The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final is the final match of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, scheduled to be played on Saturday, 22 May 2010. It will be contested by Bayern Munich and Internazionale. It will be the 18th final of the UEFA Champions League under the current format and the 55th in total. The game will be played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid. The winners will complete the Treble, a feat never before achieved by any team from either of their two countries.
Prior to the 2010 final, Bayern Munich and Internazionale had previously met four times in European competition. In those four matches, Bayern hold the edge with two wins to Internazionale's one; the other match finished as a draw. The first meeting between the two sides took place in the third round of the 1988–89 UEFA Cup; Inter won 2–0 the first match at the Olympiastadion in Munich, but Bayern responded with a 3–1 win at the San Siro two weeks later to go through on the away goals rule. They were next drawn together in Group B of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, along with Spartak Moscow and Sporting CP. The first match between Bayern and Inter was played at the San Siro, where Bayern won 2–0; the return match finished as a 1–1 draw.
Both teams go into the final chasing the Treble, an achievement never before reached by teams from their respective countries; Internazionale came closest in 1965, when they won the Serie A and the European Cup but lost 1–0 to Juventus in the Coppa Italia final. Bayern Munich claimed their 22nd Bundesliga title on the last day of the season with a 3–1 win away to Hertha BSC on 8 May 2010, before claiming their eighth domestic Double with a 4–0 win over Werder Bremen in the 2010 DFB-Pokal Final on 15 May. Meanwhile, Internazionale beat Roma 1–0 for their sixth Coppa Italia on 5 May, and then won their fifth Serie A title in a row and their second Double on 16 May with a 1–0 win away to relegated Siena. With both teams having secured domestic Doubles going into the final, it is guaranteed that the Treble will be won for the second year in a row following Barcelona's success in 2008–09.[citation needed]
The managers of both teams have won the Champions League before: Bayern manager Louis van Gaal won the competition with Ajax in 1995, while Inter's José Mourinho was manager of Porto's 2004 side. The winning manager will therefore become only the third in European Cup history to win as manager of two different clubs, following in the footsteps of Ernst Happel (Feyenoord in 1970 and Hamburg in 1983) and Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and Bayern Munich in 2001 UEFA Champions League Final).
But do spare a thought for Ahmed A - An Egyptian bloke who lives in Milan, big Inter fan. His wife reported him missing today after she hadn't seen him since Wednesday. The cops traced him to a flat in Sesto San Giovanni where he'd taken refuge with his mates so he can watch the final on telly tomorrow night.
"She always finds a way to stop me watching" Ahmed (aged 30) told the police. "I decided to leave the house when she started talking about going to someone's birthday party on Saturday evening."
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